Snow brake anchoring system

• US 10,385,573 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2018
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jeffrey Van Leuven
• Original Assignee: Jeffrey Van Leuven
• Inventors: Van Leuven, Jeffrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Katcheves, Basil S
• Application Number:
  US15/877,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20190226214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 574 Days
• Field of Search: 52 24
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/102 Self-contained devices for melting dislodged snow or ice, e.g. built-in melting chambers, movable melting tanks combined with removing devices E01H5/104
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 13/10 Snow traps ; Removing snow from roofs; Snow melters
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 3/40 Slabs or sheets locally modified for auxiliary purposes, e.g. for resting on walls, for serving as guttering; Elements for particular purposes, e.g. ridge elements, specially designed for use in conjunction with slabs or sheets E04D13/15 and E04D13/174 take precedence; ridge sealing E04D1/36; solar collectors F24S20/67; photovoltaic devices H01L31/00

Abstract

A snow brake anchoring system to prevent accumulations of snow from sliding off an inclined roof, by securing a snow brake anchor to the inclined roof, the snow brake anchor having a body with a first and second end, a top surface, a first and second leg, a bottom of the first leg, an outwardly facing surface of the first leg, an inwardly facing surface of the first leg, a bottom of the second leg, and an inwardly facing surface of the second leg, the body defining a channel extending between the first end and the second end and between the inwardly facing surface of the first leg and the inwardly facing surface of the second leg, the body further having a laterally extending lip portion that extends perpendicularly away from the outwardly facing surface of the first leg of the body and is co-planar with the top surface.

Claims

1. A snow brake anchoring system for an inclined roof to prevent accumulations of snow from sliding off the inclined roof, the inclined roof having a plurality of spaced apart generally parallel standing seams extending upwardly from the inclined roof surface, the snow brake anchoring system comprising:

a snow brake anchor having a unitary body with a first end, a second end, a top surface, a first leg and a second leg, and the second leg is parallel to the first leg, the unitary body defining a fixed-width rectilinear channel between an inwardly facing surface of the first leg and an inwardly facing surface of the second leg, the rectilinear channel defining a channel opening opposite the top surface, and the inwardly facing surfaces are parallel to one another, and the rectilinear fixed-width channel extends between the first end and the second end, the unitary body further having a lip portion that extends laterally perpendicularly outwardly from an outwardly facing surface of the first leg of the unitary body and the lip portion has a top surface that is co-planar with the top surface of the unitary body;

a plurality of spacedly arrayed threaded through holes defined in the second leg of the body communicating between an outwardly facing surface of the second leg and the rectilinear channel, and each of the plurality of threaded through holes is sized and configured to releasably carry a threaded set screw therein to releasably positionally secure the snow brake anchor to one of the said generally parallel standing seams of the inclined roof by means of direct physical, and non-penetrating, contact by an end portion of the threaded set screw that extends into the rectilinear channel, against the standing seam that is within the rectilinear channel so as to compress the standing seam that is within the rectilinear channel between the threaded fastener and the inwardly facing surface of the first leg; and

the lip portion is integral with the unitary body and is generally perpendicular to the rectilinear channel and is configured to receive fasteners to releasably secure a snow brake to the snow brake anchor body.

2. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein the snow brake unitary anchor body is composed of a metallic alloy.

3. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein the snow brake unitary anchor body is composed of a durable, temperature resistant polymer.

4. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein the threaded set screws have a hexagonal turning member defined within one end of each threaded set screw.

5. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein each of the threaded set screws have threading disposed about an entire outer surface of a body of each of the threaded set screws.

6. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein the transverse wall opposite the channel opening is arcuate in shape.

7. The snow brake anchoring system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of spacedly arrayed threaded through holes configured to carry the threaded set screws are defined in the first leg of the unitary anchor body.

8. The snow break anchoring system of claim 1 and wherein the snow brake is elongate and has a planar portion on an underside surface thereof configured to frictionally communicate with the top surface of the lip portion of plural spaced apart anchor bodies, and the elongate snow break has an upper surface that is configured to prevent accumulations of snow on the inclined roof from sliding off the inclined roof, the snow brake defining a plurality of spacedly arrayed through holes communicating between the upper surface and the underside surface that align with the lip portions of the plural unitary bodies to carry the fasteners to secure the elongate snow brake to the plural spaced apart bodies anchored to the inclined roof.

9. A snow brake anchoring system for an inclined roof to prevent accumulations of snow from sliding off the inclined roof, the roof having a generally planar inclined surface with a plurality of spacedly apart generally parallel standing seams that extend generally perpendicularly upwardly from the inclined roof surface, the snow brake anchoring system comprising:

a snow brake anchor having a unitary body with a first end, a second end, a top surface, bottom, a first leg, a second leg, a bottom of the first leg, an outwardly facing surface of the first leg, an inwardly facing surface of the first leg, a bottom of the second leg, an outwardly facing surface of the second leg, and an inwardly facing surface of the second leg, the unitary body defining a fixed-width rectilinear channel extending between the first end and the second end and between the inwardly facing surface of the first leg and the inwardly facing surface of the second leg, the channel defining a channel opening at the bottom and having a depth dimension between the channel opening, a channel base defined by a transverse face opposite the channel opening, the body further having a laterally extending lip portion that extends perpendicularly outwardly from the outwardly facing surface of the first leg of the body and the laterally extending lip portion has an upper surface that is co-planar with the top surface of the unitary body, the laterally extending lip portion having a first end, a second end, a top surface, a bottom surface, and a laterally outer edge, the laterally extending lip portion extending between the first end of the body and the second end of the body, and having a thickness between the top surface of the laterally extending lip portion and the bottom surface of the laterally extending lip portion;

a threaded set screw releasably and adjustably carried in a threaded through hole defined in the second leg of the unitary body and communicating with the rectilinear channel for releasably securing the snow brake anchor to the standing seam that is within the rectilinear channel without penetrating the standing seam;

an elongate snow brake having a first end, an opposing second end, an underside surface and a upper surface, the underside surface having a planar portion configured to frictionally communicate with the top surface of the laterally extending lip portion of plural spaced apart anchor bodies, and the upper surface of the elongate snow break is configured to prevent accumulations of snow on the inclined roof from sliding off the inclined roof, the snow brake defining a plurality of spacedly arrayed through holes communicating between the upper surface and the underside surface that align with the laterally extending lip portions of the plural unitary bodies; and

plural threaded fasteners to secure the elongate snow brake to the plural spaced apart bodies anchored to the inclined roof.